There is a perceived demand for wearable electrical interconnects (also referred to as “circuit matrices”) capable of carrying current or transporting charge in electrical systems which are suitably flexible and stretchable so as to contour to three-dimensional curvilinear surfaces of the human body in such applications as electronic garments, flexible displays, electronic artificial skins, and personal health assistants.
Typically, stretchable electrical interconnects are created by depositing and bonding the metal conductive films of the electrical interconnect on to rubber-like elastic substrates typically having out-of-plane wavy patterns or in-plane tortuous patterns. The elastic substrates are designed to provide some degree of flexing and stretching of the electrical interconnect around the human body. However, adhesive fractures tend to develop between the metal conductive films of the electrical interconnect and the elastic substrate due to flexing and stretching, and this can result in short-circuiting and subsequent electrical failure of the electrical interconnect. Some improvements have been proposed including levitating the delamination problem using polymer CNT or Graphene composites. However, the conductivity of these composites is not yet as high as metals. Furthermore, existing electrical interconnect structures are not well-suited for repeated flexing and stretching around three-dimensional curvilinear surfaces in the context of the above applications.
In addition to the conductive fibres forming the electrical interconnect, it is common for electrical components such as sensors, actuators, batteries and the like to also be electrically interfaced thereon. However, it can be problematic to interface the electrodes of the electrical components with the conductive fibres of the electrical interconnect by soldering techniques due to the fine and brittle nature of the electrical component electrodes and conductive fibres.